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Luke Brown’s Sorrel, Slim Shady, Passes Away

Slim Shady, the horse that laid the foundation for team roping header Luke Brown’s standout PRCA career, passed away May 15 at 28.

Brown has qualified for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo 13 times (2008-20), seven times riding Slim Shady. Brown earned more than $2 million aboard his iconic, game-changing sorrel.

“I bought (Slim Shady) in 2007 and rode him half the year in 2007 and all the way through 2014, and then a little in 2015 before I retired him,” Brown said. “He was a unique horse. He had thoroughbred papers and he could fly. He could run so hard, and he was a horse that you couldn’t get tired no matter how much you hauled him or you roped on him. He would give 100 percent every time and he was super easy to rope on. After I rode him a little bit in 2015, I just felt like he had done enough for me, and I wanted him to take it easy the rest of his life.”

The Team Roping Journal first reported the news.

Brown said Slim Shady never had any health problems.

“When he was 28, he looked 20,” Brown said. “He was sound and never limped or never had a bump on him anywhere. I thought he would live until he was 35 as tough as he was. He had been having a little bit of Colic issues and finally the last Colic got him. They said he probably had a tumor in his small intestine and that was causing some blockage. Surgery would have been super hard on him and recovery would have been even harder. He had never had any pain in his life, and I didn’t want to put him through that.”

Brown buried Slim Shady under a huge oak tree on his ranch in Lipan, Texas.

“He’s the best horse I will ever own, I believe,” Brown said. “He came at a perfect time for me. I had two head horses, and both passed away. I didn’t know if I liked (Slim Shady) very much when I got him, and I grew to love him. I don’t think I would have ever made the NFR the first time (in 2008) without that horse. I will forever be grateful for him.”

Courtesy of PRCA

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